


Tabletop Fountain

by fenren



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alpha/Alpha, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Ayakashi, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Omega Verse, Original Character(s), Prostitution, Slice of Life, Yôkai, historical setting, normal guy in a very very strange town
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-22
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2019-05-26 18:39:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15006956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fenren/pseuds/fenren
Summary: Yosegi is an off-kilter town populated by spirits and jam-packed with esoteric shops in addition to being a hotspot for demonic possessions and a stopover for lost souls.Seiho is just human omega trying to eke out a living in this strange place. However, between nosy neighbors, nightly kidnappings, and slave-driving employers, he is starting to wonder if he might have been better off taking his chances with the life he left behind.





	Tabletop Fountain

The lanterns in Yosegi burned blue three times a month.

It was a pale, sickly blue like the lips of a drowned man. A watery ball of fire that kept the weakest members of society behind locked doors and windows. The only ones who dared to step outside were patrolmen and those strong enough to protect themselves.

However, nothing terrible ever happened. After the landlady, Kaori, told Seiho about it, he’d stayed up the entire night waiting to hear inhuman shrieks and screams. When morning came and everyone emerged from their homes safely, he hadn’t any courage left to face his employer. He ended up asking Kaori to send a message notifying him of his absence with a shameful expression. The reason he had to do so was because of his employer’s peculiarities.

‘Peculiarities’ was putting it mildly, to say the least.

In fact, the word ‘peculiar’ probably had no place being spoken in Yosegi. There were simply no peculiarities in this town, because the entire place was peculiar from the start.

Its maze-like streets crammed full of buildings with gaps so small even a cat could not squeeze through, were not too unusual. The layout of the buildings, the colors, the patterns – Kaori had taken him to the top of the highest hill overlooking the town to show him. It truly earned the name ‘Yosegi’[1]. How anyone could have crafted a masterpiece of craftsmanship out of a town that seemed so unruly and mismatched on the ground was beyond him.

If the town itself was peculiar, its residents were beyond that. Intangible people, children who had lived for decades without aging, forked-tail cats that hissed intelligible words on from the rooftops. Even his landlady had eyes the color of pale stone and an inhuman ability to make a full grown alpha pass out by breathing smoke from a regular pipe into their face. He was grateful for that ability, truly, but he also hadn’t been able to do more than stutter in her presence for a good four days afterwards.

Seiho could say with confidence that Yosegi was abnormal and unnatural, but once a person stepped foot in this abnormal and unnatural place, everything became ordinary.

There were omegas with the strength to beat an alpha into the ground.

There were people without a dynamic at all.

People without scents. People without breath in their lungs – already passed on, Kaori had explained, and too stubborn to move through to the afterlife.

Lanterns that burned blue three times a month were tiny matters in comparison.

Seiho didn’t know anyone who went outside while the lanterns burned blue. Even his employer would not bother leaving his home.

“What would an old dog like him do this late at night when all the bars and teahouses are closed, hm?” Kaori laughed, her voice as heavy as the jingle of the bells on a monk’s staff. It penetrated the shop’s gloom with ease.

The rooms on the ground floor of the store were always thick with incense smoke so deep that Seiho could choke on it and so dense that all his words were swallowed up and suffocated. Well, this unbearable mix of scents from soothing sandalwood to the sharp and pungent anise was the reason Seiho could stay in this town. The rent here was cheap. In exchange for doing some much needed housecleaning, Kaori had even excused the first two payments.

Seiho squinted at her through the clouds of smoke circulating around the room lazily. Kaori never opened the windows even when they could, giving the smoke no way to escape. He could never stay for longer than a few minutes or risk getting lightheaded.

“Why is he coming over tonight, if he usually stays home?” Seiho asked politely. Kaori tapped him on the nose every time he spoke to her using formal language, but he had no desire to get too friendly with her. Seiho might not have known much about the world, sheltered omega he was, but his parents taught him enough to be wary of her sort.

‘ _It’s not just betas who are shrewd,_ ’ they’d warned him, ‘ _everyone in any sort of business is, otherwise they wouldn’t be in business anymore._ ’

Enough smoke cleared away for Seiho to see the troubled look on Kaori’s face. She was a pale beauty, young enough to be his older sister, with curved eyes that shone cold grey like a finely polished stone. Her expression was usually light and airy, regarding nearly all matters in front of her as inconsequential. If a client needed to postpone a payment, or Seiho worried about the next month’s rent, she always gave the same wry twitch of her brows.

Today was a little different. Her lips twitched, too – into a frown.

“I’m terribly sorry about this,” she gestured vaguely. “But, there is an urgent delivery I need you to make.”

His heart jolted in his chest from the shock. Tonight? He glanced at the windows where he could just make out the cold blue glow from the shop’s lantern out front.

“You will be safe with Shishiba-san to accompany you, so you don’t worry too much.”

“Kaori-san, ‘too much’…?” Seiho could not help the worry suffused in his voice. He wrung his hands, trying not to scratch himself with his nails.

Although he didn’t know why, it was dangerous to leave when the lanterns were blue. And he was only human – a human omega who spent his whole life learning housework and helping his mother and grandmother tend to his younger siblings. Feats of strength were so beyond him that it wasn’t even funny.

Kaori shifted, lifting up a medium-sized package from behind the counter. It landed with a solid sound.

“Don’t misunderstand,” she said with a soft huff. “You will be fine on the streets as long as Shishiba-san is with you. I’m talking about your destination. The red-light district. You’ve never been over there, have you?”

Red-light district?

Seiho almost turned red at the thought. How could he not have heard of it? But indeed, he had never gone. They were awful places for omegas in the first place, but Yosegi’s red-light district was even worse than most.

It smelled even worse than this place. Though to an alpha, he supposed, it smelled heavenly. The scent of omega pheromones traveled over three streets in either direction as a result of the ‘special service’ those shops and teahouses offered. They would sell an omega or alpha’s heat or rut, respectively. That is to say, instead of isolating the omega during their heat, they would instead sell them to a client for the three to five days necessary for it to end. Apparently, they did something similar with the alphas who worked for them.

“It’s…not dangerous, is it?” Seiho could say nothing else, but Kaori had been waiting for a response.

“If only your body was a little sturdier, I could have given you something to kill the scent.” Kaori twisted a strand of hair around a finger, long nails just barely scraping the surface of her cheek. “Instead, you’ll just have to meet with a mutual friend of ours and hope for the best.”

He wanted desperately to ask for the details, but at that moment, a knock came from the storefront.

“Move upstairs for a bit,” Kaori ordered. Hearing her turn serious, Seiho obeyed without a word.

* * *

 

Shishiba was a typical alpha with a stone-cold glare that could freeze the heavens in their path. Seiho still shivered under his intense gaze sometimes. Those large hands of his could easily bend metal and shatter stone, let alone a frail human body. Despite their positions as a single alpha and omega, however, Shishiba had never laid a hand on him. He’d only asked if his body could stand running across town day after day, then gave him a job once Seiho confirmed it.

This sort of alpha was a rarity, not only because of his restraint, but because he seemed not to understand the meaning of ‘modesty’ and ‘humility’ at all. Even if they wanted to court him, most of the alphas Seiho knew would at least pretend to be interested in his opinion and preferences. They spoke to him with a modicum of respect, smiled, and let meaningless compliments fall from their lips like water.

“Hurry up and get down here. I don’t have all night!”

Seiho winced at the shout that burst through the building’s silently creaking frame. Truthfully, he wanted to find another job to escape that commanding voice barking at him all day long, but Shishiba paid well and one could find no easier task than running packages across town.

He would just have to endure this man’s personality, which was lacking any sense of mercy.

“Seiho!”

“I-I’m coming!” Seiho shouted back, barely able to keep his words polite. He scurried downstairs to see Shishiba’s tall figure already at the door. With only a brief nod in Kaori’s direction, he rushed over to stand uncertainly in front of his employer. “Shishiba-san.”

“About time. What are you, a newborn pup just finding his legs?” Shishiba was holding the package in his arms. He stood aside to reveal the door behind him. “Open it, but stay behind me. Don’t stray more than a few steps.”

Seiho followed after him with a nod, spitting in his heart, ‘As if I dare do otherwise. I don’t want to be eaten!’ He actually had no idea what would happen if someone weak like him wandered outside unprotected. But if Shishiba and Kaori both treated it with such grim expressions like he was walking off to his death even with Shishiba there to escort him, he had a feeling he was better off not knowing.

As he was closing the door behind them, he heard Kaori say from within, “Stay safe.”

Seiho’s heart ached a bit as he clung to Shishiba’s shadow, huddled behind his tall and broad form. He hadn’t heard those words in ages. It felt almost a lifetime ago that his mother had spoken them when he left to go shopping for essentials in town.

They rounded a corner into a narrow alleyway with a steep incline. After so many months of running up and down these streets during the day, however, it no longer tired Seiho out.

Shishiba glanced over his shoulder.

“You didn’t even try to refuse her?”

His question startled Seiho, nearly making him trip over his own feet. The blue lanterns barely lit the streets, but he could still make out the slight sneer on Shishiba’s face. Ducking his head, Seiho answered in a glum tone.

“That was the first time I’ve seen her so serious. It must be important.”

“It is important,” Shishiba said. “But you have no obligation to risk your life for another person’s issues.”

“What…what do you mean?” Seiho asked cautiously, lifting his head to meet the alpha’s steady gaze. He looked away after a second and scoffed. The derision in it didn’t deter Seiho, who asked again, “What do you mean?”

He was hesitant to repeat the information himself. No one had ever told an omega like him that he had no obligation to help others. Not a single person would ever say something so illogical.

Yosegi was an illogical, peculiar town, but even the unnatural had to have its limits. Seiho had thought this was surely the case. Furthermore, Shishiba was a proper alpha. Although they were not the same species, Seiho felt completely at ease standing behind him. His scent was sharp and bitter like the metal he worked with day in and day out, but it soothed his nerves to be following a reliable alpha.

If it was an alpha like Shishiba, Seiho would not have minded being promised to him as a mate. The thought made him flush like a young, barely presented omega, but it was true.

“I meant what I said,” Shishiba finally answered. “Don’t make me repeat myself.”

Hearing those words that were like a magic spell, Seiho wisely decided not to pursue the matter.

* * *

Yosegi was a town that never slept. On some nights, grand festivals were held in the side streets. On others, the night market that opened once every two to three months would take up residence in nearly ever corner of the town. Kaori coaxed him away from the windows every single time, plying him with sweets or cups of bitter, high-quality teas. Like the red-light district, she had deemed those festivals ‘unsuitable’ for an omega like himself.

Sending him that red-light district she tried to keep him away from meant that it was an important matter.

The two streets were sectioned off from the rest of the town by a red gate and low walls. It was the busiest part of town, normally, but tonight it was filled with ominously glowing fire and empty winds. Shishiba drew him closer to his side, unconsciously releasing a deep and comforting alpha scent as they walked through the unmanned gates.

Words were unnecessary. Despite the shivers that traveled down his spine from having those huge hands tougher than steel on his shoulder, Seiho did not protest. This was for his own safety, after all. He walked as close as he could without tripping over Shishiba’s feet, feeling very tiny next to him. Seiho was small enough for Shishiba to pick up with one arm.

“Try breathing,” Shishiba said all of a sudden. Seiho glanced up at him. “You might feel better if you breathe.”

He wanted to quip, ‘Aren’t you repeating yourself?’ He did feel somewhat light-headed, the world beneath his feet unsteady and his vision a bit blurred at the edges. Taking a deep breath, he realized that he really had stopped breathing for a moment.

The air smelled fragrant and warm, a cold night breeze slipping through every now and again.

“Keep your head down,” Shishiba said as he left Seiho’s side to duck under the low branches of a tree growing between two buildings. They picked their way over the roots to the back courtyard, from which they could hear light laughter bubble outwards.

Shishiba passed the bundle to Seiho and went to the back door leading to the kitchen. Large clouds of smoke drifted into the night air, carrying with it the savory smells of food. Seiho stood as still as possible, shoulders hunched. His skin crawled as he eyed Shishiba, who was waiting at the entrance to the kitchen while someone went to find his and Kaori’s ‘mutual friend’. There was no immediate danger present, but he still wanted to hide himself in Shishiba’s shadow.

They waited for a few minutes. Faintly, Seiho could hear the hollow and haunting sounds of instruments playing from within. The beams and slotted windows of the long building were the same vermillion red as the gate, an odd sort of mockery of the shrine gates that stood at the opposite end of town. Seiho shivered. No matter how poor they were, his parents had never resorted to selling him or his siblings to a place like this one. It was better to be given to a rich family as a babysitter or servant and suffer their abuse for a few years, then return home without any debt.

“Come,” Shishiba said, waving him over. Seiho happily trotted over, shoulders relaxing as he reached the alpha’s side. “We’re going inside.”

Seiho faltered. “I-inside? Is that okay?”

Shishiba nodded and led Seiho along the length of the building to a second entrance opposite the kitchen. The walls exuded a curious sort of warmth, no stronger than a light dusting of blush across one’s face, but it was so unusual that Seiho nearly flinched as Shishiba slid the door open.

He looked back at Seiho, whose feet had frozen outside the door.

“It’s safe,” he said. “Come.”

The order sank into his bones slower this time.

Whether he was walking into danger or not, his body decided to trust the alpha’s words and stepped inside.

The interior was oddly cool compared with the walls outside. Dim, but warm golden lights from the various rooms lining the hallway on either side illuminated their path. Shishiba had helped him take his shoes off at the door. Their footsteps made no noise as they shuffled further inside. It was only after glancing up at Shishiba’s broad-shouldered back that he realized this heavy, robust alpha should have made far more noise walking over the wooden floors than himself.

Seiho walked even closer to him.

Shishiba seemed to know the way. He didn’t glance about, let alone stop one of the boys or girls running through with trays of food or mountains of towels and blankets for directions.

At some point, they made their way to the center of the compound, which opened up to reveal the sky. The massive building was three stories tall, surrounding a serene garden complete with a small bridge and a lake that had colorful fish flitting through the waters. It was nothing less than decadent, filled with wealth and lavishness that Seiho had never before seen in his entire life.

A tug at his sleeve brought his thoughts back to the present.

“I don’t have all night.” Shishiba didn’t continue without him, though. He waited for Seiho to hurriedly bow his head in apology and fall back into step behind him before turning down another hallway. They all looked the same, but Shishiba didn’t hesitate even once.

Finally, they reached their destination.

This door looked the same as any other door in the entire building. The rice paper doors revealed vague shadows of movement beyond their thin barrier, which did nothing to mask the sounds of eating, flutes and other instruments, and far more illicit activities taking place within. It seemed that some chose to spend the night here in the red-light district to while the time away until morning. It was just that there was no one in the streets browsing the shops on nights like these.

“This is Shishiba,” Shishiba announced. To Seiho’s surprise, he was actually polite. Although he had the nerve to bark at Seiho, his live-in assistants, Kaori, and even his clients, he actually spoke to a prostitute with such formal language. Instead of barging in like he normally did, he waited patiently for the room’s occupant to open the doors.

Though, considering what type of place this was, that last bit wasn’t too surprising.

A low murmur came from within, but Seiho couldn’t make out the words. A minute or two later, the doors slid open.

“Shishiba-sama,” said a soft, masculine voice. “Please, do come inside.”

“Please excuse the intrusion,” Shishiba murmured as he pulled Seiho in behind him.

The room’s occupant was a man. This wasn’t very unusual, though he was tall for an omega. Seiho watched him carefully as he very formally folded his hands in front of him and bowed in greeting.

“Shishiba-sama. And, this is…”

Seiho wanted to take a step back.

Rather than harmless, wasn’t this person somewhat menacing? His eyes were the same shade of gold as the light emitted by the two lanterns in the room. Even though they were creased in a soft, inviting manner, the blisteringly red makeup around them made him seem like a seductive demon fox instead.

“Seiho. He’s Kaori’s new tenant and a part-timer at my place.” Shishiba patted him on the back, nearly knocking him over. “She said something about an order?”

“O-oh, here.” Seiho gladly held out the bundle of incense. He wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. This man looked harmless with long hair tumbling down his shoulders and thin chest, his entire body rather lean and lacking the muscles that stood out prominently on Shishiba. Even his long fingers and bony hands were frailer than Seiho’s. However, those eyes had never left him from the moment he walked inside.

“Thank you very much.” The man’s honeyed voice was so sweet that he didn’t know if it was sincere or not.

“Am I playing mediator or something?” Shishiba said, a little humorously. “Introduce yourself, will you? I would appreciate it if you didn’t scare my worker out of his wits. I need that head of his to work, you know.”

At least Shishiba finally sounded like his usual self.

Seiho trembled as the man in front of him laughed gently.

“My apologies, Seiho-sama. You can call me Tsuku.” What an odd name. Seiho was not without his manners despite growing up in the countryside, so he didn’t comment on it.

“Y-you don’t need to call me ‘-sama’…” Seiho said, feeling very small in front of these two. “As a fellow omega, just ‘Seiho’ is okay…”

“As ‘fellow omegas’?” Tsuku said curiously.

Shishiba laughed, nearly scaring Seiho out of his skin.

“You might not be a client, but guests should be treated with courtesy.” Tsuku relieved him of his burden, taking the bundle to the table next to the teapot. “Please don’t worry yourself over it.”

“You wouldn’t be opposed to taking omegas as clients though,” Shishiba said.

Tsuku smiled. His lips were tinted red, the same red as the rouge applied lightly to his cheeks to make them look flushed. Seiho had seen the wealthier omegas apply it to their faces, but none of them succeeded in making it look as natural as Tsuku did. Well, he was a professional after all.

“A client is a client. As long as there is some compatibility between the individuals, it doesn’t matter which dynamic or gender they are.”

Seiho felt very left behind.

Tsuku was dressed in a brilliantly colored kimono with a hydrangea pattern stitched into the fabric. ‘Lavish’ almost didn’t cover it. He was beautiful, affection softening his features, every movement and word inoffensive and delicately controlled.

“Tsuku-san…you aren’t an omega…?” Seiho ventured a guess.

The entire room smelled of sandalwood. The soft, vaguely cold fragrance choked all ability to smell which dynamic he was.

Tsuku laughed. It was a laugh filled with a surprising amount of vitality, not at all like the weak whisper of breath he was exhaling before to give that impression of a sensitive and fragile beauty.

“I’m an alpha. Sorry if I confused you.” Tsuku cleared the table of the bundle, setting it aside for now, and reached for two new teacups. There were already two, half-full, sitting on opposite ends. “Would you like some tea? Ah, it’s at no charge, of course.”

Shishiba turned around, rolling his eyes. Seiho feared he was about to yell or bark at this well-mannered alpha, but all he did was flop down opposite him and pick up a teacup. Seeing as Shishiba was willing, Seiho joined them.

“Thank you,” Seiho murmured, taking a single sip out of politeness.

“What a polite child,” Tsuku said, harmless amusement dancing in his eyes. “You should keep a good eye on him.”

Child? Seiho wasn’t that much of a child anymore. Though, he remembered that Shishiba’s live-in assistants truly did look like children, but were apparently decades older than him.

He didn’t mind the last comment. Plenty of people had told his parents such over the years. It wasn’t that Seiho was a rare beauty or anything, but omega children were always desirable by someone somewhere.

Seiho didn’t mind, but Shishiba did.

He slammed the teacup on the table, nearly shattering it. Hot tea splashed across the surface as well as his hand, but he was too busy sending a stony glare filled with anger at Tsuku’s harmless, placid face.

“Tsuku. Say that again.”

Seiho’s eyes widened. How could anyone sound so deeply angry at such a small comment? There was practically a growl hidden beneath those words. Shishiba looked about two seconds from strangling Tsuku.

“Shishiba-san…” Seiho started reluctantly.

“I only speak the truth.” Tsuku stopped smiling, though he didn’t look angry or annoyed. “A human omega. Those are very rare here, so you should take care.”

‘Rare here’ as in Yosegi Town? Or ‘rare here’ as in the red-light district? Kaori had told him there weren’t many humans around. Their numbers could be counted on one hand. Shishiba apparently assumed the latter. He shoved the table aside as he got up and lunged at Tsuku, teeth bared.

In Seiho’s experience, the residents of this town were tougher than most humans and animals. Brawls could turn bloody, but the participants rarely suffered anything close to fatal wounds. After a fight, some would even step into the nearest eatery and chat merrily with their friends while licking their wounds. Sometimes, they seemed to pick fights intentionally just for a bit of fun.

“Shishiba-san!” Seiho said, panicked, as he wrapped those hands tougher than steel around Tsuku’s neck. Just a single grip for a few seconds was already leaving deep red marks on pale skin. Tsuku’s body shuddered a bit, but he didn’t fight him. He could have at least used his nails to claw at his offender, instead of letting him squeeze the air out of him. “Shishiba-san, what are you doing!?”

“L…ook. Scaring…him…” Tsuku choked, pretty red-lined eyes staring straight at his attacker.

“Stay away from him.” Shishiba dug a nail into Tsuku’s skin, easily drawing blood. The smaller man’s arm twitched, but he still didn’t try to fight it. “Who are you fooling? Smiling at a human, inviting him in for tea, giving advice freely. You hate them, so what are you planning by doing all this?”

Before Tsuku could answer, another person stepped out of the shadows of the inner room.

“Hey. Don’t damage him too much if you aren’t going to join in. I’ll have to pay an extra fee, you know?”

This playfully cold and smooth voice belonged to an elegant man with a severe and angular face, clothes askew and long hair an unusual shade of dark grey like clouds before a storm. Seiho shrank away. He wanted to run, but he didn’t know how to get out of here. Although his sense of smell was currently dead, he could tell that this man was also an alpha. Two in one room was bearable, especially since he trusted Shishiba and Tsuku barely seemed like one at all. But three!

He choked down a whimper.

The third alpha ignored him, thankfully. He went to stand next to Shishiba and Tsuku, then leaned down and caressed Tsuku’s cheek with a tender hand. Tsuku’s face was twisted in pain, but the third alpha seemed very happy and a little mischievous, as if it was an omega teasing him with some innocent and sweet action.

Those words from before came to him. It seemed that Yosegi’s red-light district truly was no different from any other. Whether that a relief or not, Seiho didn’t know.

Tsuku tried to smile up at the third alpha, but it was difficult with the shallow breaths he was forced to take.

Shishiba glared at the grey-haired man.

“Saitani. Stay out of it,” he growled.

Saitani straightened his back, then shrugged.

“If you’re willing to pay. If you aren’t, then I can’t let you choke him half to death. Tsuku didn’t do anything wrong, you know.”

“Didn’t do anything wrong?” Shishiba’s grip tightened. The situation was looking rather dire. Seiho glanced around, but there was nothing in the room that could help. He didn’t dare get close to them. His eyes fell upon the teapot. It might serve to annoy him more if he poured it over his head.

“Stop this now. Don’t be so petty,” Saitani chided, quirking a brow. When he reached for Shishiba’s hands, Seiho realized that his nails were sharp and pointed, like claws or talons.

Seiho shuffled over to the table. No matter what Shishiba said earlier, he really couldn’t just leave them be. Blood was dripping down Tsuku’s neck, reaching the collar of his robes and dying the pure white underclothes crimson. Seiho took a deep breath, then grabbed the lid off the teapot and stood. He upturned the entire pot of tea over Shishiba’s head, splashing hot tea everyone present.

No one reacted. To his shock, Shishiba didn’t even turn his head.

Saitani laughed.

“Stop,” Seiho said weakly.

Tsuku finally moved, his right arm coming up quickly to grope at Shishiba’s crotch. Seiho almost tripped over himself in his haste to escape before Shishiba crashed into him. He practically threw Tsuku across the room with his strength. Seeing a full grown person go flying like that made Seiho grateful he’d gotten out of the way in time.

Shishiba roared in anger without a single word. Saitani, who caught Tsuku in his arms rather gracefully, set him aside and moved his body in between the two.

Everyone stood at an impasse. No one was willing to move first and provoke the other party.

It was Tsuku who broke the silence and tension. He stood, weaving a bit, and gently but firmly pushed Saitani back.

“A client shouldn’t get hurt on my behalf,” he said lightly, casting Saitani a fond smile. “But thank you.”

‘ _But he was going to let him choke you to death as long as he paid!_ ’ Seiho cried out in his heart. ‘ _It’s not normal to thank someone for nearly killing you!_ ’

“Let us set the matter aside for now,” Tsuku suggested. He turned to Seiho, who froze as all three alphas’ attention turned to him. “We’re frightening him. Don’t you have any shame as an alpha?”

Upon realizing that Seiho existed again, the anger and intensity washed out of Shishiba all at once. Maybe he was emitting a fear scent and everyone, with noses far better than an average human, caught onto it just now.

Saitani broke the brief moment of silence by walking over and ever so carefully turning Tsuku around, smiling quite warmly at him. His fingers brushed against the wound on his throat.

“I will buy you some balm for this tomorrow,” he promised. “You don’t like the clients that treat you roughly like some mutt’s chew toy, do you?”

“I’m fine. You don’t need to do that,” Tsuku said, shaking his head despite how much it probably hurt.

Seiho scrambled to his feet, shaking a bit, and hurried to Shishiba’s side before he decided to take offense. As he had hoped, Shishiba refocused when Seiho was standing in between him and the other two. He wouldn’t barrel Seiho down just to attack Tsuku again.

“Tsuku-san…and Saitani-san. I’m so sorry for the disturbance!” Seiho did not have an issue bowing to keep the peace. He did it in earnest until a hand patted him on the head. Jerking, he moved away and glanced up at Shishiba, whose face was as impassive as ever. However, he had a slight frown tugging at the corner of his lips.

“Don’t apologize for what others do by themselves.”

“He’s right, Seiho-sama. Please don’t worry yourself. This is not your fault in the least.”

Even though it was so clearly a fight over him, these two kept spouting these reassurances. Seiho shook his head.

“Well, well, well. It’s all fine and good now, right? You two finished what you came here to do, had some fun, and now you can leave.” Saitani draped himself over Tsuku’s back, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and running his hands down over his chest. Tsuku turned red beneath the layer of rouge, making his face even more flustered. That was because his already loose kimono was slipping off even more, revealing a pale and thin chest dotted with fading reddish marks and purplish bruises.

Shishiba shook his head and scoffed, but he said nothing else as he guided Seiho out the doors.

**Author's Note:**

> 1 _Yosegi_ means 'parquetry'. Japanese parquetry uses thin slices of wood mosaics to make sheets of veneer. [return to text]
> 
> Yosegi's residents are not normal and neither are their names, so please don't take them to be ones real people would name their kids. The main character's, Seiho, is an old name no longer commonly used either. It comes from 成 (sei) meaning growth and 穂 (ho) meaning ear of grain, aka a wish for fertility. 穂 is for girls' names irl, but in this omegaverse, it is also used for male omegas.
> 
> Kaori: Name means fragrance or aroma. This one can be a regular name, but this character also happens to be an incense seller.  
> Shishiba: A shishi (獅子) is the stone lion-dog guardian on the left hand side in front of shrines. The 'ba' just means place.  
> Tsuku: The sound alone has many meanings, but this character's name is 筑, usually pronounced 'chika'. It's the name of an ancient Chinese string instrument called the zhu.  
> Saitani: Literally it's 'sai valley', or, the Sai river valley, where this character was born.


End file.
